A fair performance from the lads – Harrison. Deal Town 2 – 1 Fisher

A spirited performance from Fisher was not enough to see new boss Dean Harrison pick up points on the road, but the green shoots of new hope were there for all to see at Deal Town on Saturday. As with the weekend before it was the defensive shape and team spirit that showed through, and had very much been Deano’s focus over the past week.

“All in all it was a fair performance from the lads. They showed great desire and work ethic and the shape was very good all through the game. Unfortunately we were undone by two set pieces again.”

The hosts took the lead against the run of play early in the first half through Connor Coyle, who pounced from a position which appear to be beyond the last defender, firing home from a rebound after a smart stop from Ricky Wadman. Some may have feared that was the beginning of a very familiar scenario, but the Fish showed the kind of character and team spirit which Harrison is pushing for in training, bouncing straight back with a close range header from former Crystal Palace man Spencer Forte on 11 minutes. From there the Fish dominated the first period, enjoying the majority of the play but still going in level a 1-1 at the break.

All that hard work was undone 2 minutes into the second period, as Dean Hill netted from close range after a Deal corner to make it 2-1. Both sides created good chances, with Ricky’s shot stopping once again coming the fore to keep the score down to two, whilst the Fish tried to break down Deal’s strong defence.

Having seen improvements once again, Harrison was keen to move on and focus on the positives to come, especially with two of his key signings to come back into the side. “Goalkeeper Nic Taylor and our Skipper Dan Flemming were sorely missed today and hopefully they’ll both be available for next weeks game against AFC Croydon.”

Fisher are back on home turf on Saturday as we welcome AFC Croydon to St Paul’s for Deano’s first game in the dugout in Rotherhithe & Bermondsey. Get down to cheer the team towards safety.

Deal Town 2 – 1 Fisher

Deal Town goals – Connor Coyle ‘8, Dean Hill ’47
Fisher goal – Spencer Forte ’11

Fisher Starting XI – R. Wadman, Thompson, Bugden, Lawson, Agyemang, J. Wadman, Forte, Adeshina, Bangura, Devia Pineda, Adesina
Fisher subs – McMahon, McLeod-Bentley, Jabbie, McKenzie

Attendance – 87